"Mr. Unger? Will you answer my question, please?”
"I didn't mix it with anything.”
"Ah. So you drank it straight.”
"Yes.”
"So then you don't mix your drinks, do you?
You drink your whiskey straight, isn't that more like it?”
"Sometimes I mix it, and sometimes I drink it straight.”
"When you mix it, Mr. Unger, with what do you mix it?”
"A little water, usually.”
"And that's what you call a mixed drink, hmm?
Bourbon and a little water.”
"Yes, that is a mixed drink. If you mix the bourbon with a little water, that's a mixed drink, isn't it?”
"But on the night of the seventeenth, when you went upstairs after having seen this man come out of the liquor store, you did not mix your bourbon with a little water, you drank it straight, didn't you?”
"Yes.”
"How many drinks did you have when you went back upstairs, Mr. Unger?”
"I usually have a little nightcap when I'm watching the ten o'clock news.”
"Yes, how many drinks?”
"One or two.”
"Which?”
"Two.”
"How many ounces?”
"Just a little nightcap.”
"Well, what's just a little nightcap? A jigger? Two jiggers? A water tumbler - ...”
"No, no, certainly not a water tumbler.”
"Then what? A juice glass?”
"More like a juice glass, yes.”
"So after you saw this man in the street, and before you went to bed, you drank two juice glasses full of bourbon.”
"Yes. Something like that.”
"How many drinks did you have before you saw this man in the street?”
"I really don't remember.”
"But you did have something to drink, isn't that so?”
"Yes, I usually have a little drink in the afternoon.”
"Do you usually have a little drink in the morning, too?”
"Sometimes I'll have a little eye-opener.”
"What time in the afternoon did you have your little drink on July seventeenth last year?”
"I don't remember.”
"Was it just one little drink? Or was it two little drinks?”
"It may have been two.”
"Bourbon?”
"Yes. I usually drink bourbon.”
"Two juice glasses full of bourbon?”
"With a little water.”
"I see, with a little water. Mixed drinks then.”
"Yes.”
"Did you have these drinks before dinner? With dinner?
After dinner?”
"Well ...”
"Or tell me, Mr. Unger, did you have dinner at all that night?”
"I don't remember.”
"Well, do you sometimes go without dinner?”
"Sometimes.”
"I see. Mr. Unger ... before you saw this man or men coming ...”
"Objection, Your Honor! Witness has stated he saw only one ...”
"Sustained.”
"Mr. Unger, can you tell me how many drinks you'd had during that morning and afternoon and evening and night of July seventeenth last year before you saw this man coming out of the bakery shop?”
"No, I can't tell you exactly.”
"Can you estimate how many drinks you had?”
"No, I can't do that, either.”
“Had you been drinking all day long, Mr.
Unger?”
Unger said nothing.
"You're under oath, Mr. Unger. Had you been drinking all day long?”
"Yes.”
"And that was when you saw this man coming out of the bakery shop. After you'd been drinking all day long.”
"Yes.”
"Mr. Unger, when Detectives Wade and Bent first interviewed you ... you do remember them talking to you, don't you?”
"Yes, I do.”
"Didn't you tell them you'd seen two men coming out of that bakery shop?”
"I don't remember what I told them.”
"Well, let me refresh your memory. Would you take a look at this, please?" he said, and handed him a sheaf of papers. Unger read the pages silently. When at last he looked up, Lowell asked, "Can you tell me what you've just read?”
"It's a report on the conversation I had with the detectives.”
"Is the report dated?”
"It is.”
"What is the date on that report?”
"July eighteenth last year.”
"And do you now recall stating that on or about nine-thirty the night before, you'd seen two black men running out of the AandL Bakery Shop toward you. Did you say that, Mr. Unger?”
"I guess I did.”
"And did you further state that one of those men was carrying a gun?”
"I guess so.”
"Yes or no, Mr. Unger? Did you make those statements?”
"Yes.”
"But you now say there was only one man?”
"Yes. Anyway, I told them later ...”
"Yes, what did you tell them later?”
"That I couldn't remember. When they were showing me all those pictures and the artist's sketches, I told them I couldn't remember.”
"Yes, so you did. But now, all at once, you do remember. No further questions, Your Honor.”
"Mr. Addison?”
“Yes, Your Honor, if you'll indulge me," Addison said, and approached the witness stand. "Mr. Unger," he said, "just two quick questions. Were you drunk when you saw that man coming out of the bakery shop?”
"I was not!”
"Thank you. And can you tell me why you're now so certain it was only one man you saw and not two?”
"Because I've given it a lot of thought since that night. And it's bothered me all this time that I might have been mistaken ... that an innocent man might suffer for what somebody else did.”
"Thank you, Mr. Unger.”
Lowell came at him again.
No preamble, no politesse.
Just a tiger lunging out of a cage.
"Have you ever been drunk?”
"Yes.”
"How many drinks does it take to make you drunk?”
"That varies. Inebriation depends on body weight, and I've weighed ...”
"Five? Six? Eight? Twelve? A fifth? A quart? A half-gallon? How much liquor does it take to make you drunk?”
"I would say ... I really don't know.”
"How many drinks did you have that day?”
"I don't remember.”
"Then how do you know you weren't drunk?”
"I know I wasn't drunk.”
"You were drinking all day long but you weren't drunk?”
"I have a great tolerance for alcohol.”
"I'll bet," Lowell said under his breath.
"Your Honor ...”
"Strike that.”
"Who's this innocent person you're feeling so sorry for?" Lowell asked.
"I don't understand the question.”
"You said an innocent man might suffer for what someone else ...”
"Oh. The accused.”
"Samson Cole? The man being tried here for the murder of Anthony Carella?”
"Yes.”
"You're afraid he might suffer for what his partner did?”
"Objec ...”
"Are you aware that if both of them were in that bakery shop together, it doesn't matter who pulled the trigger, they'd both be ...”
"Your Honor, I object!”
"I'll instruct the jury as to law when the time comes, Mr. Lowell.”
"I apologize, Your Honor. And I have no further questions. But before Mr. Addison calls his next witness, and while Mr. Unger is still in the courtroom, may I ask that Dominick Assanti be recalled at this time?”
"For what purpose?" Di Pasco asked.
"Solely for identification, Your Honor.”
"Call Dominick Assanti," Di Pasco said.
Carella watched as he was sworn in. He was wondering whether Lowell had made his point clear about the unreliability of Unger as a witness.
He was also wondering why he hadn't hounded him on the fact that he'd changed his mind yet again on exactly whom he'd seen that night. Addison had tried to make it seem he'd come forward now for purely altruistic reasons. But wasn't it possible that he was identifying a dead man so that if the live one got off, he wouldn't come back to hurt him? Shouldn't Lowell at least have mentioned the fear of reprisal?